One of the most important talents for success in politics is the ability to make utter nonsense sound not only plausible but inspiring. Barack Obama has that talent. We will be lucky if we escape the catastrophes into which other countries have been led by leaders with that same charismatic talent.

Did you hear about this this week? Some supposed egghead smart enough to win a Nobel Prize (think "Al Gore"), has an idea to fight global warming:

Steven Chu, the Nobel prize-winning physicist appointed by President Obama as Energy Secretary, wants to paint the world white. A global initiative to change the colour of roofs, roads and pavements so that they reflect more sunlight and heat could play a big part in containing global warming, he said yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of the St James’s Palace Nobel Laureate Symposium, for which The Times is media partner, Professor Chu said that this approach could have a vast impact. By lightening paved surfaces and roofs to the colour of cement, it would be possible to cut carbon emissions by as much as taking all the world’s cars off the roads for 11 years, he said.

If he's saying that it will require less energy to cool these buildings in the summer, that would require less energy to be generated, but then, they could require additional energy to heat them in the winter! BTW, my house in Ohio, the concrete driveway was tinted slightly to absorb extra heat. Wonder if the folks back there know something Steven Chu doesn't know?

And isn't one of the major arguments for global warming about "greenhouse" gases? Does anyone need a review of the whole "greenhouse" concept? The warmth of the sun enters the earth's atmosphere and is trapped like the warmth in a glass "greenhouse".Unless any of these buildings are really, really tall, as in stratospherically tall, whatever heat they deflect is just going to be relocated somewhere else inside the earth's atmosphere. And that gets rid of global warming how exactly???

Remember last November, the report of Black Panthers wielding billy clubs intimidating voters in Philadelphia? The Justice Department was pursuing them for Civil Rights violations. That was before Hope and Change™ came to town!

Justice Department political appointees (read: Obama appointees) overruled career lawyers and ended a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense of wielding a nightstick and intimidating voters at a Philadelphia polling place last Election Day, according to documents and interviews.

The incident - which gained national attention when it was captured on videotape and distributed on YouTube - had prompted the government to sue the men, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring would-be voters with the weapon, racial slurs and military-style uniforms.

Just how bad was the intimidation?

Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as "the most blatant form of voter intimidation" that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.

"Worse than Mississippi", sometimes known for using dogs and fire hoses to keep "certain individuals" from voting or eating at a lunch counter, or riding in the front of a bus!

The lawyers also had ascertained that one of the three men had gained access to the polling place by securing a credential as a Democratic poll watcher, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The Washington Times.

The career Justice lawyers were on the verge of securing sanctions against the men earlier this month when their superiors ordered them to reverse course, according to interviews and documents. The court had already entered a default judgment against the men on April 20.

Oh, so these guys were Democrats? Well, then...never mind! What was it that Orwell said in Animal Farm? Some are more equal than others???

Thursday, May 28, 2009

"In a small town, an idiot breaks a shop window. He's called a vandal, until someone points out that a window installer now must be paid to replace the window. The window installer then will have enough money to buy a new suit. A tailor will then be able to buy a new desk. And so on. The whole town apparently gains from the economic activity generated by the broken window. Of course, if this made sense, cities should hire people to run though town, breaking windows.

But it doesn't make sense. It's a fallacy because the circulating money is seen; what is not seen is what would have been done with the money if the window were still whole. The shopkeeper, instead of paying the window installer, might have expanded his business, or bought a new suit or a new desk. The town is worse off because of a broken window."

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Bacon distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with the 1st Platoon, Company B, during an operation west of Tam Ky. When Company B came under fire from an enemy bunker line to the front, S/Sgt. Bacon quickly organized his men and led them forward in an assault. He advanced on a hostile bunker and destroyed it with grenades. As he did so, several fellow soldiers including the 1st Platoon leader, were struck by machinegun fire and fell wounded in an exposed position forward of the rest of the platoon. S/Sgt. Bacon immediately assumed command of the platoon and assaulted the hostile gun position, finally killing the enemy gun crew in a single-handed effort. When the 3d Platoon moved to S/Sgt. Bacon's location, its leader was also wounded. Without hesitation S/Sgt. Bacon took charge of the additional platoon and continued the fight. In the ensuing action he personally killed 4 more enemy soldiers and silenced an antitank weapon. Under his leadership and example, the members of both platoons accepted his authority without question. Continuing to ignore the intense hostile fire, he climbed up on the exposed deck of a tank and directed fire into the enemy position while several wounded men were evacuated. As a result of S/Sgt. Bacon's extraordinary efforts, his company was able to move forward, eliminate the enemy positions, and rescue the men trapped to the front. S/Sgt. Bacon's bravery at the risk of his life was in the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

There are over a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Judicial Temperament of Justice Sotomayer may be exemplified by her ruling in Ricci vs. DeStefano, the New Haven firefighter case.

One hundred and eighteen people took the tests; 56 passed. Nineteen of the top scorers were eligible for promotion to 15 open lieutenant and captain positions. Based on the test results, the city said that no minorities would have been eligible for lieutenant, and two Hispanics would have been eligible for captain. (The lawsuit was filed by 20 white plaintiffs, including one man who is both white and Hispanic.)

Unfortunately, no blacks scored high enough on the test to qualify for advancement, therefore, rather than promote the qualified, the city chose not to promote anyone.

The promotion exams were closely focused on firefighting methods, knowledge and skills. The first part had 200 multiple-choice questions and counted for 60 percent of the final score. Candidates returned another day to take an oral exam in which they described responses to various scenarios, which counted for 40 percent.

If the city had discriminated for or against any candidate based on race or skin color, that would have been unconscionable. But to discriminate again those men who passed the test and were eligible for promotion on the basis of what another group did or didn't do is equally wrong. Ms. Sotomayor, who has stated that "...a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male." thought otherwise.

Her one paragraph contribution to the decision was considered light weight*. Unfortunately, when the case comes before the US Supreme Court, one of the justices will probably be Sonia Sotomayor.

Update: *Although I had this on good authority, in searching the document itself, I could not find any portion of the decision attributed specifically to her.

My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear. You have worn yourselves out with fatigues and hardships, but we know not how to spare you. If you will consent to stay one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty, and to your country, which you probably can never do under any other circumstances.

But when FOX News last talked to him on Memorial Day 2008, he was in constant danger.

Then, he was using his camera to change Iraq – one picture at a time — as his 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry regiment patrolled the blown-up towns of Diyala province.

Taking pictures from his Stryker vehicle and then later sharing the prints with his subjects, Staff Sgt. Cox would build bonds with the Iraqi people. His photographs built bonds with the families of six of his comrades when tragedy struck.

The father of one of the men who fell that day saw the Fox report and later found a blog by the Fox reporter, Catherine Herridge. Through the report and comments on the blog, Cox became friends with the families of the fallen.

Every time he picks up his camera now, Cox honors the seven sons lost on that January day — six Americans and one Iraqi.

“By making him my friend (referring to the Iraqis) have I not destroyed my enemy?” Cox said.

The analogy between slavery then and abortion now is, I think, obvious. It could be argued that there's a difference between the moral gravity of the two issues. I would heartily agree. However badly the slaves were treated, most of them were allowed to live. They weren't just torn apart and killed en masse. I never heard of 60,000,000 slaves being murdered.

I also contend that Obama, for all his eloquence and high-sounding oratory, is reminiscent of Clay, both in futility and insincerity. Let me propose a simple thought-experiment. If we were to put Mr. Obama into a time machine and transport him back 160 years, which side of the slavery issue would he be on? Would he advocate searching for common ground and compromise? Really?

...the survival of everything we cherish depends on the survival of the culture of liberty; and that this hangs on our willingness to defend this extraordinary country of ours, so awfully mixed up so much of the time, so schizophrenic in its understanding of itself and its purposes, so crazily indulgent of its legion of wildly ungovernable miscreants – to defend it at all costs. With it all, this idealistic republic is the finest bloom of nationhood in all recorded time, and save only that God may decide that the land of the free and the home of the brave has outrun its license on history, we Americans must contend, struggle, and if necessary fight for America’s survival.

In due course we will all die. But when we die, let us resolve that we shall have died confident that those who follow us will live freely; and that they, living as free men and women, will be grateful that, at the threatened nightfall, the blood of their forefathers ran strong.

"Here we have President Obama and his administration saying, 'Here we are for the common, middle class people,' and here he is not letting 150 5- and 6-year-olds into the White House because he’s throwing a lunch for a bunch of grown millionaires,"

Class act, eh, kids?

Thursday was supposed to be the highlight of the year for more than 100 kindergarteners from Stafford County, Va. They got up early and took a chartered bus to the White House for a school field trip. But when they arrived, all the 5-year-olds got was a lesson in disappointment. The buses from Conway Elementary arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a little later than planned, and they were locked out.

"We were going to the White House, but we couldn’t get in so I felt sad," 5-year-old Cameron Stine said.

Parents say they were just 10 minutes late for their scheduled tour. School officials say White House staff said they needed to get ready for the president's event with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, so they couldn't come in.

"I was angry cause they were disappointed," parent and chaperone Paty Stine said.

The Steelers and the Obama administration used their time together to create 3,000 care packages for U.S. troops as part of a Wounded Warriors initiative.

A lot of preparing had gone into the trip. Conway Elementary teachers had been planning the trip for months, each child paid $20 for a seat on the chartered bus, and names were submitted to the White House for clearance.

Parents say they tried to make it on time, but their chartered buses hit heavy traffic that slowed them down substantially. They thought they were supposed to show up by 10:15, but they say they arrived at 10:25 instead, and couldn’t get in

.

But at least Obama got a jersey out of the deal! And those kindergarteners got a lesson in politics they'll probably never forget!

With few exceptions, his remarks were met with polite, smatterings of tepid applause.

Note at 5:30, he makes a false equivalence between "community organizing and military service":

"In an era when too few citizens answer the call to service...to community or to country, these Americans choose to serve."

At 6:42, a more pronounced back handed slap at the previous administration:

"After an era when so many institutions and individuals acted with such greed and recklessness (is is speaking about Congress??? ), it's no wonder that our military is the most trusted institution in our nation."

Hmm. Wonder if he makes the same observations about the military at DNC, the Kos Konvention or liberal coffee klatches where he derides Americans as bitter, clingers to guns and religion?

Charles Krauthammer is up to his usual high standards with a piece on Obama's flip flopping and political posturing.

If hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue, then the flip-flops on previously denounced anti-terror measures are the homage that Barack Obama pays to George Bush. Within 125 days, Obama has adopted with only minor modifications huge swaths of the entire, allegedly lawless Bush program.

The latest flip-flop is the restoration of military tribunals. During the 2008 campaign, Obama denounced them repeatedly, calling them an "enormous failure." Obama suspended them upon his swearing-in. Now they're back.

Of course, Obama will never admit in word what he's doing in deed. As in his rhetorically brilliant national-security speech yesterday claiming to have undone Bush's moral travesties, the military commissions flip-flop is accompanied by the usual Obama three-step: (a) excoriate the Bush policy, (b) ostentatiously unveil cosmetic changes, (c) adopt the Bush policy.

Throw in a little Orwellian "Newspeak" and it becomes plain that either Obama's campaign rhetoric was "boob bait for his leftist Bubbas", or the reality of actually governing this great nation and keeping it safe from our enemies has intruded upon the lovely little fantasy constructed in the ivory halls of leftist academia.

Observers of all political stripes are stunned by how much of the Bush national security agenda is being adopted by this new Democratic government. Victor Davis Hanson (National Review) offers a partial list: "The Patriot Act, wiretaps, e-mail intercepts, military tribunals, Predator drone attacks, Iraq (i.e., slowing the withdrawal), Afghanistan (i.e., the surge) -- and now Guantanamo."

Jack Goldsmith (The New Republic) adds: rendition -- turning over terrorists seized abroad to foreign countries; state secrets -- claiming them in court to quash legal proceedings on rendition and other erstwhile barbarisms; and the denial of habeas corpus -- to detainees in Afghanistan's Bagram prison, indistinguishable logically and morally from Guantanamo.

I think most conservatives are willing to give Obama a pass on his hypocrisy here. After all, we were defending the last administration when it came to national security. The fact that this administration is not tearing down our safeguards wholesale, is in fact a bit of a relief! However, to those barking moonbats who saw Obama as some kind of ACLU wet dream? This must be the part of the teen slasher movie where it seems like the danger was over, only to find out that the monster...
Really.
Wasn't.
Dead.

Krauthammer concludes:

The genius of democracy is that the rotation of power forces the opposition to come to its senses when it takes over. When the new guys, brought to power by popular will, then adopt the policies of the old guys, a national consensus is forged and a new legitimacy established.

That's happening before our eyes. The Bush policies in the war on terror won't have to await vindication by historians. Obama is doing it day by day. His denials mean nothing. Look at his deeds.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Baca, Company D, distinguished himself while serving on a recoilless rifle team during a night ambush mission A platoon from his company was sent to investigate the detonation of an automatic ambush device forward of his unit's main position and soon came under intense enemy fire from concealed positions along the trail. Hearing the heavy firing from the platoon position and realizing that his recoilless rifle team could assist the members of the besieged patrol, Sp4c. Baca led his team through the hail of enemy fire to a firing position within the patrol's defensive perimeter. As they prepared to engage the enemy, a fragmentation grenade was thrown into the midst of the patrol. Fully aware of the danger to his comrades, Sp4c. Baca unhesitatingly, and with complete disregard for his own safety, covered the grenade with his steel helmet and fell on it as the grenade exploded, thereby absorbing the lethal fragments and concussion with his body. His gallant action and total disregard for his personal well-being directly saved 8 men from certain serious injury or death. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Sp4c. Baca, at the risk of his life, are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

There are over a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice.

“I am disappointed at the hypocrisy shown by this Administration. President Obama is coming to Las Vegas later this month for a political fundraiser, but he will not help the struggling families in Las Vegas and Nevada who are out of work because of his reckless comments. President Obama is coming to Las Vegas to raise campaign cash for Senator Harry Reid, apparently our money is good enough for the President, but our tourism, jobs, and economic future are not. This is politics, pure and simple, President Obama stood for change, but all he has done is brought negative economic change to Nevada.”
-Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Obama administration is expanding a program initiated by President George W. Bush aimed at checking the immigration status of virtually every person booked into local jails. In four years, the measure could result in a tenfold increase in illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and identified for deportation, current and former U.S. officials said.

Unlike the knee jerk liberals, who could never give George Bush an ounce of credit for any of his policies or accomplishments, whatever they were, I will be willing to heap high praise on Obama if if follows through with this. However, "identified for deportation" is not deportation. We'll see if Obama does what is necessary to secure the borders and stem the tide of illegal immigration.

The left has long confused physical parallels with moral parallels. But when a criminal shoots at a policeman and the policeman shoots back, physical equivalence is not moral equivalence. And what American intelligence agents have done to captured terrorists is not even physical equivalence.

If we have reached the point where we cannot be bothered to think beyond rhetoric or to make moral distinctions, then we have reached the point where our own survival in an increasingly dangerous world of nuclear proliferation can no longer be taken for granted.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The famous editorial cartoonist Herblock could write as well as draw. In one of his books, he said something like: “You too can have the soothing feeling of nature’s own baby-soft wool being pulled gently over your resting eyes.” I think of that every time I see Barack Obama talking.

Furious over a new "millionaire's tax" that could cost him an extra $1 million this year, the Rochester-area resident and three-time gubernatorial candidate says he's fleeing the state for Florida's Gulf Coast.

...The millionaire's tax -- which hiked the income tax rate to 8.97 percent from 6.85 percent on those making over $500,000 a year -- would force Golisano to pay $13,000 a day in state income taxes. That's $4.7 million a year, up from $3.6 million.

Florida has no state income tax.

To officially qualify as a tax refugee, the Buffalo Sabres owner will simply have to extend by a month or two his usual winter retreats in the Sunshine State.

A fairly insignificant little man, a known liar, shoots off his mouth about something he really shouldn’t just to make himself sound more important to the people he’s speaking to…sound familiar?
It’s foot-in-mouth Joe Biden, not content to make stuff up about his grades, or FDR’s televised chats during the Great Depression, now resorts to telling the truth about things better left unsaid:

Ever wonder about that secure, undisclosed location where Dick Cheney secreted himself after the 9/11 attacks? Joe Biden reveals the bunker-like room is at the Naval Observatory in Washington, where Cheney lived for eight years and which is now home to Biden. The veep related the story to his head-table dinner mates when he filled in for President Obama at the Gridiron Club earlier this year. He said the young naval officer giving him a tour of the residence showed him the hideaway, which is behind a massive steel door secured by an elaborate lock with a narrow connecting hallway lined with shelves filled with communications equipment.

Geez, Joe! Why don’t you paint a bullseye on the place while you’re at it? If the Vice President’s residence is ever successfully targeted, I believe we should call the resulting crater the “Joseph Biden 'I can’t Keep My Mouth' Shut Memorial Hole in the Ground” so that future generations may marvel at his powers of discretion!

Merced, CA, population 246,117 as of July 2008, is home of UC Merced, which is having their graduation ceremony today, in about five hours. Typically, an event of this importance would draw about 2,000 people locally. However, guest speaker Michelle Obama, with a minimal carbon footprint of self, Secret Service and entourage, has made her way to the little California valley town to drip pearls of wisdom from her lips.

In heat that could hit triple digits today, suckers interested folk have been lining up since 11 AM this morning to hear her 2 PM speech.

Expect to see audience members swooning, but not necessarily from the rhetoric. We'll update the post later if she actually says anything of note.

Twinsburg, Ohio, a charming little community about twenty miles south east of Cleveland, is the home of an annual twins day festival. Identical twins and triplets from around the world gather in Twinsburg once a year to celebrate the bond between identical brothers and sisters.
Twinsburg, appropriately is also the site of the two faces of the Obama administration when it comes to jobs, unions and automakers.

The words had hardly stopped scrolling down Obama’s teleprompter April 30th, that “…the Chrysler bankruptcy ‘will not disrupt the lives of the people who work at Chrysler or the communities that depend’ on them.”, until the next day, May 1st. when Chrysler announced the closing of four plants in four states…the Chrysler Stamping Plant in Twinsburg among them.

It was just about two weeks ago, when the UAW was voting on a new contract complete with concessions in hope of keeping their jobs.

“The future of Chrysler's Twinsburg Stamping Plant will be on the line today (April 29) when workers vote on a new contract, the president of the union's local said.
Doug Rice, president of United Auto Workers Local 122, said Chrysler negotiators targeted plants in New Jersey, St. Louis and Twinsburg for possible closure during contract talks in 2007. Only Twinsburg, with 1,250 workers, remains open.

…"We've kind of been on this hit list," Rice said. The contract proposal in front of workers this week says Chrysler will study bringing more work into Twinsburg at lower, entry-level wages -- about half of the typical worker's pay.
The Twinsburg plan is a small part of the tentative deal between the union and the automaker. Most of the contract focuses on wage and benefits concessions in exchange for taking 55 percent of the company's stock.

Chrysler is alive today thanks only to $4 billion in government loans. President Barack Obama gave the company until Thursday to merge with Italian automaker Fiat in order to get $6 billion more in federal loans -- or file for bankruptcy.
Winning concessions from unions and creditors also is a condition of getting more federal loans.
Rice said he is encouraging Twinsburg workers to vote for the pact because he thinks it will provide a future for them. The language requiring the company to study ways of keeping the local plant open should help, he said.”

“Workers at the 1,250-worker stamping plant overwhelmingly approved the contract. Some of them said their support came because they felt they had promises of a future with the new Chrysler.”

Overwhelmingly approved. So, the UAW workers gave Chrysler (and by extension, the Obama administration) everything they wanted. Look what it got them! Obama promised them "change" and unemployment will certainly be a change for the loyal UAW workers in Twinsburg.

"Overseas contingency operations." That's the Obama administration's term of choice to replace "the long war" or "the global war on terror." No doubt they were inspired by the famous Leo Tolstoy novel, "Overseas Contingency Operations and Cessation of Overseas Contingency Operations," later dumbed-down by the publisher to "War and Peace."

KSDK -- Thousands of jobs could be in jeopardy at St. Louis' second largest employer: Boeing.

The aerospace company announced the government's planned defense budget cutbacks will slow production of two locally-built planes and eliminate the jobs of the employees who make them.

...The bottom line is Boeing needs to get through to President Obama, Congress and Secretary Gates. If not, they stand to lose more than 5,000 jobs at Boeing in St. Louis, and 30,000 total local jobs, including suppliers.

I guess elections have consequences. But for an administration more concerned with teaching Chinese hookers to drink responsibly than providing jobs for the heartland of America, no big deal, right? I mean, honestly! They're just a bunch of Red Staters! Probably voted for McCain!

To those American blacks demanding reparations, I want to tell you that I agree with you. I agree that if you find any man or woman who has enslaved you or participated in enslaving you, you should milk them for all they’re worth. And I will be extremely happy to help you do it.

But if that doesn’t happen, don’t talk to me about reparations. I don’t owe you a dime.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Do you know? Then, you are a part of only 21% of the American public surveyed who does!That's right! Four out of five people in a recent poll (like the famous dentists in the Trident commercial) couldn't answer the question correctly as to "how much is a trillion?".

Correct answer: A trillion is a million million. (One million times one million)

Stack those pennies one on top of another (and use a little superglue, so they don't fall over!) and you'll have a stack 986,426 miles high! That's nearly three times the distance from the earth to the moon!

Here's what a trillion dollars looks like. (That's me in the lower left hand corner for comparison. 6'3")

One trillion dollars.

The fact that four out of five Americans haven't a clue as to how much a trillion dollars is, could explain part of Obama's popularity in the face of trillion dollar spending sprees and multi-trillion dollar deficits. It simply doesn't register with some people how big that number really is!

Pfc. West distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. He voluntarily accompanied a contingent to locate and destroy a reported enemy outpost. Nearing the objective, the patrol was ambushed and suffered numerous casualties. Observing his wounded leader Iying in an exposed position, Pfc. West ordered the troops to withdraw, then braved intense fire to reach and assist him. While attempting evacuation, he was attacked by 3 hostile soldiers employing grenades and small-arms fire. Quickly shifting his body to shelter the officer, he killed the assailants with his rifle, then carried the helpless man to safety. He was critically wounded and lost an eye in this action. but courageously returned through withering fire and bursting shells to assist the wounded. While evacuating 2 comrades, he closed with and killed 3 more of the foe. Pfc. West's indomitable spirit, consummate valor, and intrepid actions inspired all who observed him, reflect the highest credit on himself, and uphold the honored traditions of the military service.

There are over a hundred living MoH recipients today. Their names and their stories should not be forgotten. My mission is to honor one of those heroes here each week, and salute them for their courage and sacrifice.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Note the upper line is where the Obama administration projected that unemployment would be without the stimulus. The lower line was supposed to have been the result of a trillion dollars of government spending.

Note how actual unemployment tracks nearly identically with where we would be had we not spent the money! Couple that with the fact his own Office of Management and Budget advised that the stimulus package would hurt the economy long term, President Hopey Changey is not doing the country any favors!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Shakespeare in Love, one of my favorite movies was on the other day. So we'll have a little poetry today.

William Shakespeare - Sonnet #18

Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:But thy eternal Summer shall not fadeNor lose possession of that fair thou owest;Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

It's time for the sun to move into a busier period for sunspots, and while forecasters expect a relatively mild outbreak by historical standards, one major solar storm can cause havoc with satellites and electrical systems here.

That's okay! We've joked about sunspots being the source of all kinds of unidentified glitches in the past!

...A report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a storm as severe as one in 1859 occurred today, it could cause $1 trillion to $2 trillion in damage the first year and take four to 10 years to recover.

The 1859 storm shorted out telegraph wires, causing fires in North America and Europe, sent readings of Earth's magnetic field soaring, and produced northern lights so bright that people read newspapers by their light.

Holy Samoleans! If a storm like that could short out telegraph wires on the ground, just think what it could do to GPS and cell phone satellites! You might even have trouble reading this bl

Not just any widows and orphans, though...widows and orphans of fallen police officers! Because, you know, when I think of cutting government waste, I don't think of $368,000 Air Force One photo ops, or the National Endowment of the Arts or some obscure museum somewhere. I don't think farm subsidies or helium farms or Institute of Mental Health studies of Peruvian brothels, I think about families of fallen police officers and what have they done for us lately? /sarcasm

the Associated Press reported on May 7 that the president’s proposed budget calls for cuts in the Public Safety Officer’s Death Benefits Program. Obama wants to cut $50 million from the program, the budget to fall from $110 million to $60 million.

Balancing the budget on the backs of widows and orphans, this was big news, right? I mean you heard about it lots of times before you read it here, didn't you? Beuller? Beuller?? Anyone???

According to The Phrase Finder, the Miles Coverdale Bible (1535) has this account on someone "falling on his sword":

Then sayde Saul vnto his wapebearer: Drawe out thy swerde, and thrust it thorow me, that these vncircumcised come not and slaie me, and make a laughinge stocke of me. Neuertheles his wapenbearer wolde not, for he was sore afrayed. Then toke Saul ye swerde, and fell therin.

Now whan his wapenbearer sawe that Saul was deed, he fell also vpon his swerde, and dyed with him.

But, since the Mother's Day weekend is upon us, will anyone take notice that White House Military Office director Louis Caldera has fallen on his?

The fall guy man in charge of the President's plane, Hard Luck Louie Caldera has been shown the door. All those who believe that the boneheaded plan to buzz NYC originated with Louis Caldera, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you!

If you met a man who said he would like to “transform” or “remake” his wife, would you conclude that he: a) thought very highly of his wife and loved her? Or b) held his wife in rather low esteem and therefore found loving her rather difficult?

The answer is obvious: Those who wish to remake anything (or anyone) do not think highly of the person or thing they wish to remake. Little is as revealing of Barack Obama’s and the left’s view of America than their use of the words “transform” and “remake” when applied to what they most want to do to America.

Friday, May 8, 2009

...the old Democratic Party!They say confession is good for the soul, so if I haven't told you before, I have a secret shame. A dark, dirty shameful secret, but I feel like you're family here so, here goes:

I used to be a Democrat!

Not just any Democrat, a McGovern Democrat! I proved Sir Winston's aphorism that if a man isn't a liberal when he is eighteen, he has no heart. If he's not a conservative by the time he's thirty, he has no brain!

We recently saw an example of government waste, a Department of Education attaché based in Paris that costs $632,000 per year. (Fiscal Responsibility in the Age of Obama) and it got me to thinking about some of the Democrats I grew up with. One fixture in the Washington of my youth, was William Proxmire (D-WI).

Bill Proxmire used to give out his Golden Fleece Award to outrageous government spending. (I think the French education attaché would qualify!)

According to wiki,

The first was awarded in 1975 to the National Science Foundation, for funding an $84,000 study on why people fall in love. Other Golden Fleece awards over the years were "awarded" to the Justice Department for conducting a study on why prisoners wanted to get out of jail, the National Institute of Mental Health to study a Peruvian brothel ("The researchers said they made repeated visits in the interests of accuracy," reported the New York Times), and the Federal Aviation Administration, for studying "the physical measurements of 432 airline stewardesses, paying special attention to the 'length of the buttocks.'"

Ever wonder whatever happened to the Democrats? Why are there no John Kennedys cutting taxes, or Bill Proxmires exposing government waste today? Ronald Reagan (a slightly more famous ex-Democrat) said that his party left him. Why do I have the feeling that those really solid Democrats that the party didn't leave were chased away?

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